Research by Action 2000, the company responsible for the Governments
Millennium Bug
campaign, shows too many businesses are woefully behind in their Bug
preparations.

Just two in five (43%) of UK businesses are on course for the New Year.

Mr Blair said: "Time has very nearly run out for the firms that are
behind. With under ten months to
go, they have two clear choices; use the time to beat the Bug, or risk
being beaten by it.

"The Bug is biting now. One in ten companies interviewed by Action 2000
have already suffered
disruption caused by the Bug.

"I strongly urge board directors, managers and employees alike to
ensure their firms, their jobs and
their livelihoods are safe from the Bug."

Gwynneth Flower, Action 2000s managing director, warns: "Our research
shows that, at the
current rate of progress, 40% of small-to-medium businesses (10-249
employees) will not be in a
position to beat the Bug come the date change."

Analysts GartnerGroup describe five possible consequences of not being
ready for the Bug: health
or safety hazards; considerable revenue loss; significant litigation
expense; significant loss of
customers; shutdown of business, production or product delivery
operations.

Flower said: "Lets be clear. We are talking about the risk of severe
disruption, or worse, if
companies fail to address their own vulnerability to the Bug.

"It is worth reminding companies that there is an explicit legal duty
on employers to identify what
they need to do to ensure health and safety in the workplace by
carrying out an assessment of the
risks. The Bug is such a risk."

Action 2000s fourth wave of research highlights three sectors of
business:

progress by large companies (250+ employees) has been too slow in
the last quarter

small-to-medium businesses (10-249 employees) have improved, but
not quickly enough:

four in five small-to-medium businesses (78%) describe it as
serious for them - but only half
that number believe their management or board treat it as a high
priority (40%), and
although the vast majority of them describe their IT (85%) and
communications (91%)
systems as critical, just 46% have contingency plans for their
failure.

Secondly, too many small-to-medium companies think they are more
prepared than they really are:

four fifths of those that think they are fully ready, are not:
some of those have, in fact, taken
no effective action.

Flower said: "Many directors who think theyve given the Bug top
priority and got it sorted appear
to have got it very wrong on both counts. Examples of areas they have
not properly considered
include thorough testing and obtaining information relating to their
premises."

Action 2000s study focuses on small-to-medium businesses. Their
readiness is crucial to the
progress of large companies responsible for many essential services.

Within this group, readiness levels differ by industry sector.
Companies in manufacturing (68%),
business activities (67%), finance (66%) and retail (61%) are most
advanced.

Two-thirds of companies believe their business would be seriously
affected if they experienced
disruption in essential supplies, and a third would find it difficult
to source alternative suppliers
quickly.

Flower commented: "Despite this, it is worrying that only a quarter of
those companies interviewed
have formal plans in place for switching to an alternative supplier in
the event of disruption.

"Our interviews show that preferred supplier status is the most
effective method of encouraging
suppliers to take action."